Students burn Suharto in effigy

Students staged a mock trial of President Suharto in Jakarta, condemned him to death and burned him in effigy on Friday, ignoring a call from Indonesia's powerful military chief to halt their protests.

Demonstrators in the north Sumatra city of Medan, the scene of violent student protests for reform and riots over fuel and electricity price rises, denounced Suharto as the "Son of Satan" and demanded he be put on real trial.A chorus of reform demands from establishment organizations grew louder with church leaders representing more than 10 million Protestants throwing their support behind the student protests. Earlier in the week a leading Moslem intellectual organization urged wide-ranging reform.

Armed forces chief General Wiranto said on Thursday that after nearly three months of protests students had got their message across and reforms were now on the national agenda. They could now do something more useful than protesting, he said.

But there was no immediate sign that Wiranto had stemmed a tide of protest which has grown louder and more prone to violence as the pain from Indonesia's worst economic crisis in decades worsens.

Students in Medan, scene of the most bitter confrontations in the demonstrations, marched through their campus chanting "Suharto is the son of Satan." One banner read: "Fire Suharto and prosecute him."

The University of North Sumatra in Medan was reopening after being shut in late April after days of protests.